


So it Goes...

by queque



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Jedi training sorta, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Soft Ben, a reylo love story, emotional Ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2020-10-09 05:02:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20505854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queque/pseuds/queque
Summary: Yet another story of these two nerds falling in love in space!





	1. I Think He Knows

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm writing again and may be a bit rusty but I'm back either way! This is just a loose story idea in my head that I want to get out so thanks to anyone coming along for the ride, I appreciate the hell out of ya! :)

The buzzing of machinery and quiet hum of generators were the only sounds Rey could hear from her spot under the hull of the Falcon. This bucket of bolts is always in need of some sort of repair or touch up so it's the best bet when in need of a place to hideout for a while. Which explains why Rey is currently neck deep in ship parts at this ungodly hour. She needed a place to hide.

Not from danger or despair. But from the pair of pretty eyes and plush lips she finally gave herself over to. She feels a flush spread over her at the memory of what his lips had tasted and felt like. The lips of her supposed enemy and exact opposite. They had been circling around this inevitable conclusion since months prior when he called out to her and finally fled the First Order for good. She didn't want to give in to her base desires from the get go, so she resisted the unexpectedly charming Ben Solo for as long as she could. But last night he finally broke down her last defense.

Rey quickly shakes her head to loosen the cobwebs of memory and desire that began to form. She returns her attention to the cold metal in front of her and sighs, completely at a loss for how she is going to confront him again. She needn't think too hard about it however because the unmistakable sound of his heavy footfall filled the empty hanger. She could hear his steady approach and waited with bated breath and a beating heart for him to make himself known. She stays hidden under the Falcon, pretending as if she didn't sense his presence from the minute he entered the room. His feet come to rest firmly planted right beside the rolling bed she's laying on. He doesn't say anything, just stands, waiting. 

_Two can play at this game, _Rey thinks as she continues her tinkering, making sure to make loud enough noises so it seems she's still unaware of him. She thinks she finally hears him sigh. _It sounds almost pained,_ she thinks, and holds herself back from rolling out and making sure he was alright. 

"You left." 

His words echo across the deserted hanger and hang in the air around her. She slowly rolls herself out from under the Falcon and finds his brown blazing eyes already fixed on her. She swallows at the imposing sight of him, decked out in all black with his hands behind his back. Every inch of him domineering and masculine and mouthwateringly _tempting_. 

"You left." he says again, eyes darting quickly to her lips before returning to her eyes. "I wasn't close to being done with you but you...fled."

His words carried a heat behind them that Rey couldn't distinguish between anger or desire. _Perhaps a mix of both_. 

Rey stares back into his eyes, hating herself for how easily she’s already succumbing to him. 

“The Falcon needed....repairs..” she says lamely as she watches his face set in resolute anger. That telltale twitch under his left eye giving away just how much emotion he’s holding back. 

She fully rolls out from her hiding place and stands before him now. She can see the wheels turning behind his eyes, trying to find the right words without letting his anger get the best of him. 

“So you’d rather spend the morning crawling around this..._hunk of junk,_ instead of with...” he cuts himself off and swallows whatever the end of his sentence was. With a small shake of his head he turns and stalks slowly out of the hanger. 

“Ben!” 

She hadn’t planned on calling out to him, her own echoing voice catching her by surprise. He stops without turning around, waiting for her to continue. She rings her hands around the wrench she never seemed to put down, hoping to gain the courage she clearly didn’t have this morning when she woke to his sleeping form beside her. 

“I got scared....I ran...I didn’t want you to wake up and be disappointed in what happened.”

The truth of her words were deeper than she knew as she said them out loud. She saw his shoulders tense before he slowly turned back to face her. A look of confused hurt on his face. 

"What could you possibly think would disappoint me about what happened?" his voice and aura are a deep vibration that cut through the still air of the empty morning. Rey feels it shake the air around her, his Force signature so unbelievably familiar to her now.

He quickly closes the distance between them, no longer broody and sullen but full of a fire that has _also_ become quite familiar to her. He stops in front of her, lips pressed in that nervous manner of his. 

“I wanted more than just last night.” He whispers to the still space between them. His voice is a baritone rumble as it cascades over Rey’s ears. She feels as if the gravity of this hideaway planet just reversed as she takes in his words. 

“What do you want then Ben?” She whispers as well, unable to speak any louder even if she wanted to. 

He stares into her eyes with a torrent of unexpressed emotion and Rey has to remind herself to breathe while returning his gaze. 

“I want all of you Rey,” he finally confesses, “I want the light...the dark...the complicated. I want it all with you by my side.” 

Before she even knew what she was doing, her arms were thrown around his massive shoulders as her lips sought out his own. His eyes bulged in a moment of surprise but then the fire simmering in them finally kindled to a blaze. He returned her kiss with fierce passion, as if he was scared she’d run again the minute he pulled away. She lets out a quiet moan, cheeks coloring from the sound. He answers with a moan of his own and the slip of his tongue into her mouth. 

They stay clinging to each other for some unknown amount of time when a small clearing of a throat breaks the hazy atmosphere around them. They both whip their heads toward the sound and find Leia staring at them with a cocked brow and bemused face. 

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I need a word with my son." her voice is full of humor as she watches Ben's cheeks turn a blazing red.

Rey is sporting a pair of her own at being caught with the general's son but mostly because the way Ben was kissing her set an inferno to her hesitations and doubts. She was ready for more than just last night as well. 

Ben looks down at her now and there is visible storm in his eyes as he resists just ignoring his mother all together.

"I'll come find you later sweetheart, we have unfinished business." 

She hates herself for the gasp that escapes her and for the moan he pulls out of her from his quick parting kiss. She catches his smirk as he strides smoothly toward his mother, ignoring the shake of her head at his display.

"Just like your father." Rey hears her mumble as she turns and follows her son out of the desolate hanger. 

Rey feels shell shocked. Unsure of how just a few minutes ago she was tinkering with the Falcon and now her lips are swollen from Ben's insistent kisses and her face is the temperature of the Jakku son. It dawns on her that she never got to tell Ben that she also felt the way he did. That she didn't run this morning because of regret but because of insecurity. She rethinks his parting words and the way they seemed to hold so much more. She knows now that he felt her thoughts, felt her desires and feelings that were too difficult for her to express. It's easy to forget they share a bond now that they're no longer separated by galaxies and war. 

Rey feels a smile begin to form on her face, an excitement beginning to bubble in her gut. They finally crossed a barrier that has been a plague to them both for far too long. While there's still _plenty_ of places to go from here, she's glad to finally be starting something. She realizes there's a full smile on her face now and she shakes her head again, laughing a little at how silly she probably looks right now. She doesn't know how long Ben will be gone but until then she can lay under the Falcon and waste time day dreaming of what _more_ is going to look like. She wants him and, bless the Force, she doesn't even need to tell him, she thinks he knows. 


	2. Delicate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back with some more of this little story :) let me know who’d like to see more!

Ben quickly strides passed his mother, eyes fixed determinedly ahead of him. He hears the passing remark of being just like his father and a small pang explodes in his gut. Not anger as he was expecting. Closer to pride. He shakes mind clear of such thoughts as he heads for the General’s private meeting quarters, not looking forward to the conversation he’s surely about to have regrading the show he just put on in the deserted hanger. 

He hears Leia’s smaller footsteps in between the steady smacks of his own against the stone floors. The tentative peace they’ve established since his defection from the First Order has slowly mended the nearly abandoned bridge between them. Although that doesn’t mean he wants to introduce his mother into the already fragile beginnings of whatever is happening between him and Rey at the moment. 

Reaching her private quarters, Ben seats himself at one of the many deserted chairs situated around the conference table and waits as his mother joins him. The look on her face is of barely controlled bemusement and he suppresses the urge to leave before she can even begin. He misses his chance however as she clears her throat.

"So," she begins, tone full of amusement she's not even bothering to hide anymore, "how recent is this...intimacy?"

Ben feels his face set fire and almost fully combusts when he begins to feel his mother's amusement through the Force, finding humor in his embarrassment. 

"Very." he mutters, eyes remaining fixed on the table in front of him.

He hears her sigh before feeling her small hand under his chin, lifting it to bring his gaze to hers. She hasn't touched him like this in ages, the touch feeling almost foreign except for the all too familiar warmth it brings to his heart; even when he doesn't want it to. He is slightly stunned, just staring into the eyes of the woman he never could stay angry at. The one who, considering everything that had transpired, understood him the most. _Except for Rey_. The thought forms of its own volition in his conscious and evaporates almost as soon as it came.

"Don't be embarrassed Ben, I'm happy for you." Her tone is sincere but Ben's mind is much harder to convince than when he was a child. "I'm happy for you both. I'ts about time you two figured it out."

He looked at her in surprise, feeling his face flame again.

"What do you mean?" He demanded in a voice of false heat. 

She gave him a look as if to say she didn't buy his naivete, "I'm not blind Benjamin. I've been watching you two dance around each other for months." 

His face is surely as red as it's ever been now and god damnit he needs to _stop_ fucking blushing.

"I'm not the only one either." she continues, cheeks tense with the effort to keep her grin from spreading.

"I have no idea what you're talking about.." he mumbles, mostly to himself, but even he can hear the lack of agitation in his voice. Leia chuckles softly beside him but blessedly decides to drop the subject.

"I was coming to find you this morning because I have a..._task_...that can only be done by someone I trust."

The use of the word trust was enough to force Ben's gaze back to his mother. Never in a million years would he have assumed he had anything remotely _resembling_ the word trust with the woman who hurt him and who he had hurt just as painfully in return. He could hear it in her tone of voice though, and see it in the light of her eyes; she's telling the truth. He suddenly feels this overwhelming urgency to break down. To let the years of anger and withheld emotion explode as his mother holds him and comforts him. He shakes these thoughts free before they find an unwelcome hold in his brain.

"What kind of task?" he eventually asks, voice clearly struggling to hold back any judgement or denials perched at the tip of his tongue.

He watches as she takes a deep steadying breath before catching and holding his intense gaze.

"Rey needs training," she began, already Ben sat upright and at attention just from the mention of Rey's name, "I can see and feel the struggle that being at the base is causing her. Can feel her loneliness and isolation. The Force flows so powerfully within her but it's casting her out from all her peers." A quick knowing glance aimed his way, "Well, almost all of them."

She says this last sentence with a knowing smirk on her lips. Ben feels his traitorous cheeks heat again at the connotation of her words but he can't bring himself to retort them because, like always, his mother was right. Rey _was_ feeling lonely and isolated. She had told him so multiple times over the last few months. Her abilities in the Force feel alienating to her except when the two of them are together. In those moments it seems as if the storms brewing inside finally find peace. A calmness neither is used to. 

And when they had finally kissed last night? It seemed as if the flowing Force energy between them began to explode with blinding gold light. As if the material of the universe had been patiently awaiting the reunion of their two energies and flowed in a shower of golden sparks in celebration when they finally came together. 

He shakes the intrusive memory free and swallows hard before turning back to his mother.

"So where do I fit in to all of this?" he already knows the answer but needs to hear the words actually leave his mother's mouth.

The look in her eye tells him she knows the game he's playing but for once she's willing to indulge him.

"I need you to take her off-planet and train her. Help her understand her abilities and find herself. We've all thrust her into our deranged story but no one has helped her find her own path." Her words trailed off but Ben could sense she had more to say so he holds back his response.

"I see the way you look at her Ben. And the way she looks at you. You're the only one who understands her. Who can help." 

He can feel his cheeks color again at this last statement and almost attempts to question them before deciding against it. She's right of course. No one else understands Rey the way he does just as she understands him better than anyone has ever come close to. He clears his throat and pushes the softening thoughts of his connection with Rey to the back of his mind. Looking back at Leia he knows he has no choice but to say yes, knows that if she would have suggested anyone else it would have caused an uproar in his heart and mind. 

"Where should we go?"

He doesn't need to tell her he'll do it. Doesn't need to agree. 

"I'll leave that up to you to decide."

He nods slowly, hands threaded together on the table in front of him. 

"We'll leave tomorrow."

He could tell that she was slightly taken aback by the suddenness of their departure but she quickly fixes herself and nods. One of her delicate hands reaches out and gently rests on top of his conjoined ones. 

"Do me one more favor?"

He looks up to her, asking for her meaning without words.

"Take care of her. And yourself. Come back to me in one piece, Ben."

He swallows the lump in his throat at her maternal concern and nods stiffly, eyes returning to the image of her slightly wrinkled hand resting on his large calloused ones. He feels a gentle squeeze and then the presence is gone. He hears her make her way to the exit and linger by the door. His mind is running frantically with the last minute plans needing to be made unfolding in front of him. He's so focused he almost misses the subtle _i love you_ felt across the Force. His lungs seize and before he can stop himself he feels the returning of her sentiment come from deep within him. The atmosphere lightens dramatically, as if someone replaced a missing bulb, and his mother's contented Force signature is the last thing he felt before the door shut behind her. 


	3. Daylight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I'm back with another update and this one got very soft on me so hopefully that's your jam lol. I've never written anything canon-related before this story so excuse a few mistakes or things that may not make sense cause tbh I'm only human and I'm trying lol. 
> 
> Thanks to anyone who's reading! Comments and kudos make me a very happy gal :)

He finds Rey sitting on her bunk with her legs crossed, mind and presence deep in a meditation that Ben dared not disturb. He took this small fragment of peace to absorb all the curves and freckles that make up his other half in this life. Even if they haven’t discussed the next step that opened before them once his lips touched hers, he’s never been more certain of belonging somewhere than in her presence. 

He feels the uncontrollable tug of his lips as he basks in her light Force signature and the peace she’s cultivating while meditating. Suddenly he feels a nudge in his mind, almost like a knock on his proverbial Force door, and he realizes it’s Rey silently asking him to join her. 

_So she can still sense me even when deep in meditation? _

A sudden wave of pride washes over him at how strong his feisty scavenger truly is in the Force. He slowly lowers himself beside her onto the cramped bunk and mimics her cross-legged position. As he closes his eyes and evens his breathing he can already feel Rey inviting him in to the warm aura of her vision. They sit side-by-side, knees barely touching as they meet in the space outside of space that the Force seems to occupy. 

In her meditations he sees a warm golden sunset melting through the cracks and open spaces of a lush landscape. A tiny cottage placed peacefully along a shimmering lake that reflects the blazing hues of the setting sun. He finds her in the sandy bank of the lake, legs crossed the same way they are now but she's decked out in a garment that is as breezy and light as the scene around them. A white sheer robe that flows in the warm scented breeze and covers a black slip underneath. Even in this dream state he can't resist the attraction he feels for her. Can't help but feel a spreading warmth at how the Force has clothed her in both light and dark while maintaining every ounce of her strength and beauty. He feels a chuckle across the bond and realizes his thoughts must have been louder than he anticipated.

_It's the truth Rey. You bewitch me._

He feels a spike of surprise and something else come through across the space and suddenly the vision shifts to the interior of the cabin along the lake. The inside is sparce but cozy with one bed slightly larger than the standard issue cots of the Resistance base, a fireplace with a richly scented wood burning merrily and filling the space with a warm welcoming embrace, and of course, Rey. A source of light and warmth all in itself. Her white sheer robe is no longer caressing her sun-kissed skin as it was outside. It's just the black slip he saw glimpses of earlier and without the covering the robe offered, he's able to see every angle and curve of her tiny toned body. The shifting of the vision to the cabin must have shifted something else in Rey's mind because the aura has changed from peaceful and light to passionate and fiery. 

_Beautiful_. The thought comes unbidden to his mind and travels effortlessly through the space around them. He should be concerned about how little control he has over his wayward thoughts but the subtle tint to Rey's cheeks quiets any warning bells attempting to pierce through. 

_So are you._

Now it's Ben's turn to blush as her words feel like a loving caress in this strange dream-like space they're sharing. It feels more intimate than any moment they've shared prior and yet Ben doesn't feel nervous or uneasy. There's a strong sense of peace and belonging flowing in from the breeze, shaking the trees around them, rippling the still mirror of the lake outside. He takes a steady step toward her and is unsurprised when she does the same. Soon the warmth Ben feels is from her proximity and the heavy heat pulsing through his veins as she gets close enough for him to count all the tiny little freckles that flow across her face. They lift their arms at the same time and both bring them to each other's cheeks. Again, Ben isn't shocked at the synchronicity, isn't surprised that they are operating on the same frequency. It's as if this moment, this faraway place in the galaxy that exists between reality and dreams, is where they were always meant to get to. When their lips meet for the first time since entering her vision, a sense similar to the one shared when their fingers touched all those months ago passes though them. A picture of the two of them in this same cozy lake cabin but this time they are accompanied by little versions of themselves laughing and smiling around them. A boy with a freckled face and jet black hair. A girl with deep chocolate eyes and pale moonlight skin. 

Suddenly Ben is ripped from the vision with a gasp of surprise and finds himself back in the real world, with his leg still crossed and his hand clutching Rey's. She must have also been taken aback by the vision because she's staring at Ben with a look she's never worn before. Before he can say anything she lunges at him and Ben fumbles only slightly before his arms wrap around her waist and his lips find hers. The heat he felt while standing in that imaginary cabin comes roaring back as Rey straddles his lap and grasps handfuls of his hair, keeping his lips locked on hers. The last time they did this she was nervous, hesitant, sweet. This time however, it's as if an inferno is being released and Ben is all too happy to burn in it's wake. 

They stay like that for a few more minutes before Rey pulls back and rests her forehead on his as their breathing begins to return to normal. He doesn't dare move. Doesn't dare say a word as he lets Rey take control of what happens next.

"Did you see them too?" 

Her whispered question hangs in the air for a few seconds as Ben takes a moment to rejoice in the fact that _she_ saw their potential children as well. 

"Yes." he answers, voice slightly choked by both surprise and emotion.

He feels the tension lift from her body and leans back to see a small smile begin to spread across her face. Her cheeks are flushed again and he can't help but get temporarily lost in her beauty as thoughts of the children in their vision float through his mind.

"They were beautiful." her cheeks blush further now, as if she's embarrassed. 

He tilts her chin up so that she has nowhere else to look but right back into his eyes.

"Just like their mother." he says with a voice so quiet he can hear his heartbeat rapidly at the same.

Her eyes widen momentarily as any doubt as to who those children belonged to are wiped away. 

"Oh Ben." she throws her arms around his neck and buries her head in his chest. He returns the embrace, holding her as they bask in the knowledge that they saw the same thing. Are on the same page. 

He pulls back slightly and lets a hand roam up to cup her cheek. There are tears brimming in her honey eyes but he knows they're from happiness this time, not disappointment or sadness. He leans in and gives her one more sweet kiss before pulling back and tucking her head into the crook of his neck. He begins to card his fingers through her hair and smiles at the contented sigh that escapes her. He tries not to linger too much on how amazing it feels to embrace her like this. To be a source of comfort to someone and to feel comforted in return. He's reluctant to break this trance but he sought her out earlier for a reason. 

"My mother wants us to go off world," he finally says, breaking the peaceful silence, "she says she can sense how uneasy you have felt and that maybe it's time for more training." 

He doesn't say anything else until she pulls her head from the crook of his neck and looks up at him.

"Training from who?"

There's no anger in her voice to Ben's great relief, only curiosity and a undertone of excitement. The look in her eye tells him she already knows who but just like he needed his mother to say it his face, Rey needs to hear the words spoken aloud. 

"From me."

She doesn't react at first, doesn't say anything, just stares into his eyes as if she's searching for something. Finally a small smile creeps along her face and a twinkle enters her eyes that leaves Ben a little breathless. 

"Well, I guess I only have one question then." she says with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Where are we going to train..._Master_."

Ben nearly chokes at the sound of that title falling from her lips and he can't stop himself from the blush he feels explode across his face. Suddenly Rey bursts into a fit of giggles and Ben should be annoyed at her teasing but that lilting laughter is enough to reduce him to chuckles as well. He pinches her side in slight retaliation and her squeal of surprise is enough to plaster a big toothy grin on his face. Something he doesn't think she's ever seen him sport before. He leans in to her neck and places a soft kiss at her pulse point before whispering into her skin,

"I think I have an idea."


	4. A Place in This World

Ben didn’t linger long after their shared moment of meditation. He parted from her with one last light kiss as he explained he had preparations to make for their departure the next day. Rey watched his looming figure retreat down the halls of the Resistance base and began making preparations of her own. Hers didn’t involve much physical packing or charting of maps, they were more mental preparations of a sort. She knew she’d have to explain to her friends that was she leaving and that she was leaving with none other than the formidable Kylo Ren. 

As much as that persona has melted in Rey’s eyes, it has managed to stay firmly planted in the minds of Finn and Poe. An understandable hesitation to accept the idea of a man changed after experiencing him at his worst. 

Rey gathered her wits and tried to create a sense of calmness in her mind before seeking out the only family she’s ever known. These past months spent on the base have been both amazing and difficult for Rey. She was able to create an actual home with an actual family of people who loved her and looked out for her. Something she thought only existed in the part of her brain reserved for her deepest dreams and wishes. But, as she settled deeper into the routine of being apart of something bigger than herself, she realized that there were very few people around her who truly understood how she felt and thought. She’d find herself on the outside looking in more times than not when it came to typical friendly camaraderie. She felt stuck in a perpetual feeling of being one foot in and one foot out when it came to the people she loved the most which caused her to begin slowly pulling away. 

Her only saving grace came from the man whom she originally thought to be completely irredeemable. A man so steeped in anger and betrayal that the notion of being a comforting presence for her was almost laughable. But Ben Solo was always a constant source of surprises; something she learned quickly after first meeting him. He was patient with her. Understanding. He took her moods steadily even when her anger bubbled over and caused her to lash out. Most importantly, he didn't look at her like she was some magic being with mystical powers the way many members of the Resistance have begun to do. With a thorough understanding of the Force he has become a sort of retreat from the stares and whispers that now compromise her daily life. 

The problem is that Rey is unsure of how to communicate this to her friends in a way that doesn't make her sound crazy or naive. That Ben isn't taking advantage of her power or turning her heart into something hard and dark. She's already spent months fighting against the comments made from those around her about him being a bad influence and she wants to scream at how incredibly wrong the are being about him. She felt an undeniable excitement when he told her they were leaving for training and that he would be her teacher. If she's being truly honest with herself she's been itching for a secluded place with him in order to truly understand the flowing energy inside her that has completely taken over her life. 

As Rey ambles down the scant corridors of their base she hears the telltale cadence of Finn's voice coming from the makeshift commissary. When she walks in, she finds him sitting at one of the few ramshackle tables accompanied by Rose and Poe. He's in the midst of telling some kind of war story with plenty of exaggerated hand gestures and blazing eye contact. Poe and Rose play the part of avid listener perfectly even though Rey is almost positive they were both present for whatever tale Finn is spinning them. She takes a deep steadying breath before claiming an empty seat at the table the trio are occupying, a roaring chorus of laughter fills the space as they all finally notice her presence and greet her with warm smiles.

"Where have you been all day peanut?" Finn asks as he wipes tears of laughter from his eyes. There's a glow of happiness flowing from him and Rey just knows that Finn feels a belonging with these people in a way that she could never quite attain. She feels a slight pang of guilt course through her as she knows she's about to ruin the joyous mood she walked into.

"I had some things to take care of on the Falcon...rudimentary stuff." She's stalling. Her voice betraying the words she's holding back. _Coward. Get it over with,_ "I'm actually getting ready to go off-planet. I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

Silence fills the space where laughter and fluidity once reigned. Three pairs of eyes turn to her, each with their own brand of inquisitive quirks. 

Finn is the first to break the mounting quiet with an exaggerated "_What?? _You're leaving??"

"But you've barely been here!", Poe cuts in, true confusion mapping it's way along his brow, "Where could you possibly be going?" 

"What do you mean you're going off-planet Rey? What is there in the galaxy that could take you away from us?" Finn's confusion has turned accusatory as Rey watches the pieces click together in his brain. Even if he doesn't know the whole story she can tell that he knows one of the main players in it. 

"Leia has suggested that I take a break from the base in order to continue my training." Her words are reserved and her three companions make no moves to inquire further, waiting for her to continue the explanation. "I didn't get proper training during my time on Ach-to with Luke. Leia can sense it."

That look that Rey has been avoiding suddenly fills the eyes of Rose and Poe. Just with the mention of Luke's name a whole slew of questions and thoughts begin to perch on the tips of their tongues but for once they have enough clarity of the tone in the room to hold themselves back from berating her with them. 

"Training?" Finn asks, voice laced with disbelief, "With who?"

Rey catches the slight blush bloom across Rose's face as she quickly looks down at the table. She wonders if maybe her burgeoning friendship with Ben has been more obvious than she originally thought. Especially when the one person with the least amount of information about her is able to immediately know just _who_ Rey will be training with. Maybe it's just women's intuition. Or maybe Ben and Rey are terrible at hiding their feelings. Regardless, Rey feels a blush of her own begin to form and quickly tries to steel her nerves before answering.

"Ben is coming with me. He's going to train me." 

Silence again. Silence and a hard glare from her first true friend. Poe whistles softly through his teeth and leans back in his chair in a placating type of way. The universal sign to Finn that this one is all him. 

Finn continues to stare at Rey with that hard look in his eyes before blowing out a deep sigh he must have been holding in. 

"Let me get this straight," his voice no longer carries that honey-sweet happiness she heard earlier when she arrived, it's all sharp anger and barely restrained annoyance, "Kylo Ren is taking you _off-world_....to _train_...just the _two of you_?" 

Rey knows her face is sporting a blush of half anger-half embarrassment at the emphasis he's putting to her words but she won't be dismayed by his misunderstanding of Ben and herself. Rose and Poe are actively looking anywhere but at the two of them and Rey suddenly feels an intense burst of anger. That elusive dark side portion of her Force signature rearing its ugly head at the way Finn is treating her. As if she can't take care of herself. As if she's truly insane to trust in the only person who understands her. 

"Yes Finn, _Ben _is going to train me in the ways of the Force and how to harness it better." she can feel the fire burning in her eyes but Finn just continues to look at her like she grew an extra head.

"But why does it have to be _him_? And why do you have to leave the entire kriffing planet?" his words aren't a shout but they're dangerously close to it and Rey knows that she needs to end this now before she truly erupts with anger. 

"Do you know another Force user that can help me Finn? Do you know how hard it is to be surrounded by an entire base's thoughts and feelings while trying to process your own?" 

Finn's anger drains and Rose and Poe look sheepish at her words. None of them have any idea how the Force works or how it effects Rey's daily life.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning and I don't know how long I'll be gone but if you truly can't look passed the sins of his past to see how much help he can give me then there's nothing more for me to say." 

With that she rises quickly from her seat, knocking the chair backwards with the force of it, and leaves the commissary before Finn can say anything else. Hot tears of anger brim in her eyes as she mindlessly walks the halls, unsure of where she's going or what she's looking for. 

She should be surprised when it's Ben's door she begins pounding on instead of retreating to her own quarters but after months of him being her emotional escape the surprise has evaporated from her soul. 

His door hisses open and immediately he senses her anger and sadness. 

"What happened?" his deep voice flows over her and breaks down whatever strength carried her from the commissary to his door as her traitorous tears flow heavily down her face. 

"I told them."

She doesn't need to say more as his arms move to envelop her. Doesn't need to say who she told or how it went. He knows. Of course he knows because the are two halves of the same broken coin. He holds her and strokes her hair and lets her tears soak into his tunic. When her sobs turn to sniffles turn to even breathing he lifts her chin to look at him. 

"It'll be alright sweetheart. I'm here. You're not alone."

The echo of his words spoken what feels like a lifetime ago are enough to ensure her that even if Ben is misunderstood by her friends, he's always been the one she was meant to belong to. 

"Neither are you."

Her own parroting of that first intimate connection brings a slight quirk to his lips that Rey knows is his version of a smile. He tucks her head back into his chest and kisses the top of her hair before quietly bringing them over to his cot. He fills her in on the details and schematics of their journey and Rey is grateful for the brief emotional escape it offers her. He informs her that everything is set for their departure in the morning and finally reveals the location of their training destination: Varykino. A lake planet with ties to Ben's grandparents that brings a flush of happiness through Rey's body. She's reminded of her own lake planet she created in her meditation earlier that day and wonders if maybe that's why Ben chose that specific location. 

They continue to talk semantics until Rey eventually dozes off in the arms of the former Supreme Leader with nothing but soft feelings and delicate touches to send her off to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so another page of this little story added and I have to say it's been quite a different experience for me to write it! I hope y'all are finding some enjoyment out of these two softy soulmates and if so please feel free to let a girl know!   
I'm also on tumblr @wannabepen !!  
Thanks from the bottom of my heart to those who are reading!


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